A very professional and thorough review. Thanks very much

I guess I'm somewhat in the minority as I rather like this ink. I agree, it could be darker/more saturated but I like how well behaved it is in a wide variety of my pens -- noting that I EF and F nibs are the most common in my collection. I'm also moving away from Noodler's (tend to be finicky in my pens) but like the suggestion by Jackie below to try Faber-Castell Carbon Black

Along with several others I've been using Waterman black since the 70's in college. Still generate many pages with it. I agree, it's not "intense" to me, either, but I have Heart of Darkness and also the X-Feather black if I want more saturation. It's an old favorite of mine and deserves its place with inks of this color.

I absolutely adore Jet Black by Diamine. I like my black inks quite dark and saturated, not a dark gray. But like everything, everyone has their own taste. Greetings James. 🖋

I just discovered it as a great everyday ink and one affordable enough to put in my super-capacious Indian eyedroppers. X-Feather is an old standby, and Monteverde Midnight Black and J. Herbin Perle Noir are my other favorite blacks.

Noodler’s Black or Noodler’s Heart of Darkness checks all of your criteria boxes. I’m very fond of them.

Aurora Black is Black. It’s, perhaps, a bit more expensive than some others but you’ll be, I think, happier. I do use Quink Black in my vintage pens only because it cleans out better.

So far the darkest black ink I've enccountered is Sheaffer Black. It's an underappreciated ink, in my opinion. It is a dry ink though... but thanks to that it dries in no time, and you can also highlight without problelms (that's a plus for as sudent like me). I believe that Waterman Intense Black can also be highlighted so when I'm done with my Sheaffer Black bottle, I plan on buying this one! Anyways thanks for the ink review, James! :)

Waterman is most famous for their blue inks: mysterious blue (dark), serenity blue (blue) inspired blue (turquoise) are must haves :) Personally I don’t like permanent black, my go to black is Parker Quink.

This ink was the first one I bought, but no matter how many attempts I made, it never convinced me. Currently my favorite is the Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black. For my calligraphic style I prefer dry inks. The Pelikan works very well with my Kaigelu 360, which is a bit too wet for my liking. The dryness of the Brilliant Black counteracts the excessive humidity of the K360

My "edc"/"all around" ink is Koh-I-Noor Document Black; excellent ink at a fair price, and works really well in ordinary paper; but as you defined it, like other black inks on the market, it's actually a dark gray (has a green tint on under the gray, but almost invisible)... From the inks I have in my collection, for you, I think the Aurora Black is a safe bet in terms of color; and in my tests it's water resistant (I can't say it's completely waterproof, but i still use it to adress envelopes). Noodler"s used to have some options, like the Raven Black; but now from the colors currentely avaliable, i think "Bad Black Moassin" and "Black Eel" are close enough. "Heart of Darkness" could also work, but in my experience, it still dries kind of gray depending of the paper and if you use fine nibs. Thanks for the review.

the BEST and none other can close is: J. Herbin Perle Noire. Hands down.... and is a great value...

Cross Black, I think is the best black.

I recommend checking out Aurora Black - very black

Nice video. Thanks. I love Sheaffer's and Waterman's inks. As for black, Aurora has the darkest black. It's more expensive, but it's definitely worth it if you want a very saturated black. Not bullet proof. Just very dark with no hits of other colors.

Very though review, thanks :-) I like to use the "Warden" series of Noodles whenever I can, but there are too many beautiful other color inks that dont have those permanent features, oh well... . I was recently using some Rotring black from a cartridge, and it seems really black and wet.

I just ordered Aurora Black. I, too, am hunting for a black ink, not gray or charcoal gray. It is difficult to find one that is also quick drying, being left handed. Noodler's Bernanke Black is not as quick drying as I would like.

Sennelier's China Black is the darkest ink I've found. It's like liquid midnight. But I've never used it in anything except a brush and a quill pen. Platinum Carbon Black is also very black and you can use that in brush pens and even fountain pens.

I have this ink. It is very good but did not work with my Parker iM. Works best with my Pelikan pens. If you write something and photocopy it, it will be blacker and more beautiful than any copy ink. Very good for creative teachers. But these are few nowadays

My ink collection has a substantial number of black inks, and Noodler's Raven Black tops it with 3 bottles, being tops in permanence and dark shade. It was a Wonder Pens exclusive, but the falling out came from the controversial branding by Nathan, ergo discontinued.

Not tried Waterman’s black but absolutely love their serenity blue: the blacks I’ve got are Pelikan(quite dry), Pilot(quite wet!) and Aurora(blackest of the 3) - hope this helps:)

I also would expect Noodler’s ink

You might want to try Faber Catell Carbon Black. It's resistant and much darker than the permanent Platinum Carbon Black. I won't use Noodler's ink anymore, and have a bottle of Borealis and Bad Black Moccasin I would be happy to send you if you're interested.

I like the chromatography , very interesting! Waterman & Parker inks tend to be very friendly to pens. 🙂

God bless you to

I have a feeling that modern Waterman inks are versions of their old "washable" inks. For a reasonable price, a truly black ink and permanence, I am happy with Noodler's Heart of Darkness. I have several other black inks, but the Noodler's is my choice when I really want permanent and truly black ink.

What is this "manuscript black" you referred to? What brand is it? etc?

I suggest look at Parker Quink Black. I recently purchased some black ink from AliExpress

Waterman black does very well on poor quality paper. KWZ Warsaw Dreaming is the darkest black I have used.

Nothing can beat Noodlers' Black!

Maybe a better name for that ink would be Black Intend !?

Hi JG3. Jim from Madrid, Spain (an artist and a New Yorker expat living abroad). First... I've been a subscriber to your channel since a bit over a year ago, even though I don't post much. Second... I'm a fountain pen lover since I was young-er (I'm 56 now). Third... I use Fountain Pens for Every Day Writing (EDW) as well as for Art. I've been in search for a real Good and Black "Soluble" ink for fountain pen use! (And it ain't easy). For Art and other purposes (with Fountain Pens) I already use non-soluble (or permanent) inks that work for me just fine. My question comes because it is NOT easy to find a real soluble Black Ink for fountain pens. Why soluble? Because when I use it for Artwork (sketching, etc.) I can do a wash on it and use the ink to give tone and value as well as shadows, very quickly with a water brush (for example) when sketching quickly outdoors. For example, I've tried Parker's Quinn Black which turns out into a Sepia color (nice too, but not the black I'm looking for). Do you have any suggestions as to a real soluble Black Ink for Fountain Pens that when water is applied it's chromatic hughe is actually a neutral grey? Thank you in advance for your help! Cheers from Sunny Spain! 😁👍😎✌

To my eyes this one looks more medium/dark grey than actually black. Try the Cross Black ink. It's a real black. Maybe not as black as the darkest ones in the market like Platinum Carbon Black or De Atramentis Archive Black or some Noodler's (although I've not compared them side by side), but I was surprised about how dark and saturated (in color) it is. The only downside to me is that it's made in China, but it's a great very dark black ink which, by the way, it's also labeled as "archive" and at a great price when I purchased it (now it's more expensive though). Cheers!